The death toll from the wildfires that ravaged the resort town of Lahaina on the island of Maui jumped to 80, Maui county officials wrote in an overnight update. Firefighters are still working to contain fires in Lahaina, Pulehu/Kihei, and Upcountry Maui.

At least 80 perished in the inferno, and 1,700 buildings were burnt to a crisp in what is already being described as the deadliest natural disaster to strike Hawaii since a deadly tsunami in 1960 that killed 61 people. 

On Friday afternoon, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that it could take weeks to sift through Lahaina's "rubble and ashes" to get a final death toll. 

"Over the course of the next week, we'll get as close to a complete assessment as possible.

"Starting tomorrow, we will see a lot more certainty about how many individuals perished," Green said.

The governor continued:

"Sometimes in natural disasters, or essentially wartime disasters, and it does look like a war zone where Lahaina is concerned, you will sometimes discover later that someone has perished, because it was burned to the ground."

So far, the Maui fire is the second-deadliest in the US in the last 100 years, but it could soon be the deadliest if the death toll surpasses the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California that killed 85 people. 

 Fire Map: Island of Maui 

Here's the latest update from Maui local officials: 

Local officials have described Lahaina as "like a bomb went off." 

Fires continue...

The fires began earlier this week (read: here). The source of the fire remains unknown but was fueled by hurricane winds and dry weather.